The Voyager 2 Saturn Commemorative
is the most successful of the series from a number of standpoints.
First, W6VIO made 11,298 contacts on all bands and modes
between 80 meters and 220 Mhz during the 16-day special event.
Second, several new activities were initiated including color
slow scan television and interactive question and answer sessions
between Amateurs and Voyager Project personnel. Third, the Commemorative
was an outstanding public relations success for Amateur Radio
and the Space Program through widespread media coverage.

This special event achieved 11,298
contacts in 16 days, which is more contacts than any previous
commemorative, including N6V, the Viking Special Event. This
total was possible because of the 31 operators who participated
in the activity. Also, the performance of the station during
the event was outstanding. This performance is due to the leadership
of Jack Patzold, WB6TXG, and Jim Lumsden, WA6MYJ, and the many
individuals who volunteered and completed the many assigned tasks.

Slow Scan Television was again the
cornerstone of our operation and included color slow scan through
the modification of our Robot 400 by Sam Mormino, WA7WOD. (The
Robot 400 was deeded to the Club by Robot after the Saturn 1
encounter). Several Club members contributed many hours of extra
work to install several new black-and-white monitors and modify
a new color TV set to monitor the complete status of the color
system.

If you are a Slow Scan TV buff you can access MP3 copies of two
sides of the special JPL ARC Voyager encounter with Saturn SSTV
cassette recording here.
It has an introduction by Dr. Bruce Murray and narration by Dr. Al
Hibbs.

Another first included picture titles
through the Robot 800 SSTV/CW/RTTY keyboard, again through the
courtesy of Robot Research. We made 288 two-way SSTV contacts,
and many others were watching who did not have two-way capability.
We made TWO-WAY SSTV WORKED ALL CONTINENTS.

One of the highlights of the slow
scan activity was sending many pictures to Bill, TU2JJ, in the
Ivory Coast so he could show them at the American Embassy. He
sent many of the pictures back to demonstrate the "closed
circuit" nature of his reception.

A commemorative first was the two
interactive "press conferences" conducted with questions
from Amateurs on 20meters and answers by Voyager Project and
NASA Personnel at JPL. Jim Lumsden acted as moderator in a session
with Charles Redman, the NASA Chief Public Information Officer
from Headquarters at JPL for the Encounter, and Stan Sander acted
as moderator for the session with Dr. Arthur Lane, the Principal
Investigator for the Photopolarimeter Instrument. Both conferences
were well received by both sides with many good questions and
answers. The conduct of the Amateurs on frequency during these
activities was outstanding.

(Photo by Norm,
K6PGX)

This Commemorative was an outstanding
public relations success for both Amateur Radio and the Space
Program. The W6VIO SSTV was viewed by the public in real time
at the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, the Smithsonian Institute
in Washington, and museums or Planetariums in Sacramento, Nashville,
and Schenectady. Fast-scan TV was viewed at the Griffith Park
Observatory.

I was in contact one day at noon
with an Amateur in the Netherlands when I received a phone call
from Christian Mass of DX world, a German language magazine.

We made many schedules in the course
of the Commemorative and were able to meet every one of them,
including one with Tokyo where Nippon Network TV crews were simultaneously
present at both ends for taping of the two-way SSTV communications.
As far as we know, this was the first international filming of
both ends of an SSTV QSO simultaneously.

As Manager of this event in Dick
Piety's absence, I thank all of you for making this a big one.
(George, W6ABW) 300 CONTACTS @ 1/MIN ON CW?????

Merv claims to have worked over 300
contacts on Sunday, Aug 16, (see GMT Aug 17 on chart). We checked
the FT-101 on Monday because Merv said some of the stations were
giving him 599 when he could just barely pull them out of the
mud and found that the series fuse in the receiver line inside
the rig was blown! The fuse is actually a small light bulb between
the antenna terminal and the receiver amplifier to protect the
rig from serious damage in the event excessive RF or other voltage
gets on the line. Merv, are you sure you worked all those 300+
contacts listed in the log??? (ed)

F-I-V-E 9 9 ???

A signal report from one other station
during the Commemorative had to be requested several times before
the other station finally responded with "FIVE 9 9"
in one CW QSO reported to your Editor.

After some additional hesitation,
the other party finally explained that the digit '15" on
his CW keyboard was inoperative, so the only way he could think
of to give the requested report was to spell out the "FIVE"!
Perseverance pays! and also gives me something to put in here.
(ed)

FOUR-LETTER WORD FOUND IN 10 METER
LOG

The following is an excerpt from
a line entry in the ten-meter SSB Commemorative logbook that
obviously had some impact on your Editor when perusing the logs
one day:

"VK2VUF JUDI ***GREAT VOICE***
SEXI"

I won't reveal who the operator was
but he/she must have felt some impact, also! If you want to find
out, call Bruce Beaudry at x5829 and volunteer to help fill out
QSL cards. (ed)

WATER INJECTION SAVES CLUB STATION

The addition of all of the extra
TV monitors for the color SSTV station as well as full use of
almost all of the operational equipment in the W6VIO Station
trailer was just too much for the itty-bitty 12,000 BTU air conditioner
that was slaving away at the far end of the trailer, the end
in which very little equipment was operating. The fact that the
temperature was getting a bit high at the high-powered end of
the trailer was becoming a bit obvious when all the operators
began to strip off clothing!

The Club Facilities people came up
with a brainstorm which seemed to work, at least enough to save
the day during the extreme hot spell. A mist of water was positioned
near the air conditioner condenser coil air intake such that
the mist was be drawn through the condenser coils, significantly
increasing the cooling capacity of the unit. The slight leakage
of water into the trailer interior seemed a very small price
to pay for some relief from the heat.

Even with both "killer-watts,"
8 TV monitors, 3 HF rigs, 2 VHF rigs, 2 TV cameras, 1 keyboard,
an occasional O'scope, 3 Robot scan converters, and 5 to 10 people
all going, the augmented air conditioner was just able to keep
things bearable through the peak heat of the day.

The obvious intent of this story
is to find some super benefactor who can arrange to increase
the cooling capacity in the trailer facility. Any volunteers?
Call your Editor or Jack, x4926. (ed)

CONGRATULATIONS TO...

Paul Schou moved from Novice to Advanced,
KE6ET!

*****MEETING NOTICE*****

The October meeting will feature
as our speaker ARRL Assistant General Manager Dave Sumner, K1ZZ.
Be an interested League member and take advantage of this rare
opportunity. Be there October 14. Noontime, Bldg 238, Room 543.
(Merv, N6NO)

I have always been intrigued by the
idea of carrying Amateur Radio to strange and obscure places
but only recently have I had the equipment to make this possible.
Standing at 14 494 feet, Mt. Whitney is the highest point in
the continental United States and is visited annually by over
10 000 hikers who make the ascent over routes ranging in difficulty
from simple hiking trails to grueling rock climbs. When a group
of JPL friends and myself recently planned a trip to the summit,
I knew that I would have to bring along my Wilson 220 MHz Handi-talki,
despite the additional weight. While hikers have often brought
Amateur equipment to the top (W6JTH is pictured on the cover
of QST operating in Field Day from Mt. Whitney) it still seemed
like an interesting thing to try. The line-of-sight distance
from Mt. Whitney to the Table Mountain Repeater is about 160
miles with about 6000 feet of elevation drop. It seemed as though
2 watts might do the job but I brought along a ground-plane just
in case the HT's rubber duck proved inadequate.

On reaching the summit on Sunday,
Aug 2, at about 10:00 AM, I unpacked the equipment and put out
a brief QST on WR6AZN. To my shock and utter amazement, Merv,
N6NO, who had been listening by prior arrangement through the
WR6APQ (now W6VIO/A) link, came back immediately with a full-quieting
59 signal. I proceeded to reduce power to 1 watt, and then switched
over to the rubber duck antenna. Still Q5 copy! During the course
of the 45 minutes or so I was on the top, I also worked N6ET,
K6BMG, W6ABW, and WB6UQM.

The moral of the story is that VHF
is capable of tremendous communications range if line-of-sight
conditions prevail (witness Voyager!). It also shows that there
are still a few of us willing to lug pounds of extra weight 20
miles and up 6500 feet to make a QSO. Many thanks to everyone
who made the adventure a worthwhile success. (Stan N6MP)

UOSAT COUNTDOWN AND LAUNCH NET

The currently scheduled launch date
for the UOSAT is September 28 or 29 at 1119Z (0419 local PDT)
from Vandenberg AFB. W6VIO has been requested to support the
countdown and launch information net which AMSAT has organized
for OSCAR launches. We supported the launch of ARIANE LO-3 on
June 19, 1981 with our 20 and 40-meter beams aimed toward the
Pacific.

We will again be "beaming the
Pacific" on 20 and 40 meters for the UOSAT launch, which
shares the ride with JPL's SOLAR MESOSPHERE EXPLORER atop a Delta
launch vehicle. Frequencies will be 14.305 and 7.182 MHz with
coverage beginning approximately 30 minutes before launch.

The UOSAT is an educational "downlink
only" satellite designed to transmit pictures and synthesized
voice for telemetry and experiment data. The downlink frequency
is 145.825 MHz FM and requires only a simple fixed antenna for
reception. (See July 1981 W6VIO Calling for additional info.)

Up to the week status reports will
be made on the Newsnet on Tuesday on W6VIO/R. (Jim WA6MYJ)

WE HAVE TREMENDOUS QRN HERE! ABOUT
S8-S9!

One of the "campaign" pledges
our President Stan made in order to get elected this year was
to do something about the receiver noise that has plagued W6VIO
since we began here. Action on that pledge has been overshadowed
by all the other activities that we have been involved in this
year. NOW IS THE TIME! We have the station - let's make it so
we can hear other stations. Let's track down that noise and find
where it is coming from! (Photo & piece by Jim WA6MYJ)

HENRY RADIO JOINS SWAP MEET RANKS

Henry Radio has begun a swap meet
which is held every second Saturday of the Month in their new
Subterranean Parking facility. The meet begins at 7:30 am and
continues until Noon. Three ground rules are listed on their
flyer:

1) CARS will be permitted to set
up prior to 7:30 am and sell from tailgate.

2) Once set up, CARS must remain
until 11:30 am, or until the swap meet ends.

The annual fall license classes begin
Tuesday, September 15, in Bldg 238 Room 543 under the direction
of John Walsh. The classes will be held every Tuesday and Thursday
noontime and are open to all JPL employees and contractors.

PLANETFEST 1981 = FASTSCAN ATV

In March of this year, the JPL Radio
Club was approached and asked to support the Planetary Society
in providing support for the Festival being planned to coincide
with the Voyager 2 encounter with Saturn. We did!

At 8:30 pm, Tuesday, August 25, 1981,
all of the blood, sweat, and tears proved worth it all when 3500
people sat in the Pasadena Civic Auditorium and watched the "ABC
NIGHTLINE" show live from JPL while three of the evenings
panel discussion members, who had left the auditorium only minutes
earlier, participated in a nation-wide panel discussion. The
three, Dr. Bruce Murray, Dr. Carl Sagan, and Moderator of the
Panel Ted Koppel were the part of the panel of distinguished
scientists and promoters that also included author Ray Bradbury
and Startrek producer Gene Rodenbury.

This was only the climax of the very
hectic three days that began with the installation of the large
Eidophor projection system which would project our fast-scan
video onto a large 25-foot screen on stage at the auditorium,
and also the smaller distributed monitors located in the exhibition
hall for people to view the live Voyager pictures while attending
the Festival.

The equipment, seen in the photo
right, weighs about 2000 pounds and is mounted on a 6x6-foot
pallet. The actual projection guns are at right.

The video link from JPL to the Civic
Auditorium was actually provided by Tom O'Hara, W6ORG. A 1277
MHz transmitter was located on the roof of Bldg. 180, where we
tied into the composite video on hardline direct from Von Karman Auditorium. Audio came up to the roof on twisted pair and was
mixed by the transmitter.

Fortunately, the Pasadena Center
was line-of-sight from the roof of 180, so a similar antenna
was used for the downconverter to TV RF channel 3. The signal
was split at the receiver so that a 434 ATV transmitter could
feed the signal to Johnstone Peak and Griffith Park off an omnidirectional
antenna, and also fed downstairs to the Center's RF distribution
cable.

Ernie Williams, WB6BAP, set up some
434 MHz receiving equipment at the Griffith Park Observatory
and provided many hours of excellent live Voyager picture viewing
for visitors there.

Jack Patzold, WB6TXG, and myself,
Jim Lumsden, WA6MYJ, had a tremendous amount of apprehension
about how to approach the Pasadena Center people with the request
to mount antennas on their roof and string cables all through
their auditorium. We decided on a fact-finding meeting with the
Audio Engineer there, who would be doing all the interfacing
with us. I wish I could put our relief when Ray Overman, WB6STL,
introduced himself and provided tremendous assistance in solving
many of our problems.

Since every TV RF tuner in existence
in the Los Angeles Basin was already committed for the Voyager
Encounter, we had more than our share of troubles with the only
things left, which were ancient tube-style tuners which had been
pulled from service many years earlier. The Von Karman Boys,
Steve, Greg, and Cory must be commended for heroism and theft
above and beyond the call of duty for helping us do the best
possible job with that equipment while they were literally in
the midst of battle with every News Network in the nation.

Noise on the audio, sub-carrier finally
drove us to an alternate audio link by phone. Thanks to Bill
Carpenter, WA6QZY, who just happened to be around at the right
time, the audio we needed to go with our video program was put
onto a special phone line which we could access from outside
JPL. Except for a very brief cross-connection of Al Hibbs face
with Ted Koppel's voice for a few seconds, the phone patch worked
beautifully.

The support to the Planetary Society
was a huge success. It was a major commitment by the Club at
a time when we were committed to the Commemorative. We owe a
great deal to Tom, W6ORG, and very much appreciate his participation
in this effort. We have expanded our horizons and developed new
capabilities. That is what this Club is for. (ed)